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UNMC received the WasteCap Nebraska Green Business Award for its campuswide environmental efforts. |
The medical center received the award for its dedication to reducing waste, educating employees, eliminating toxic substances and purchasing green products.
“It’s very gratifying to receive this award,” said Don Leuenberger, vice chancellor for business and finance. “As a campus, we continually look for ways to be responsible stewards of the environment and we strive to be a leader in this area. I’m happy to see our efforts recognized by WasteCap Nebraska.”
In 1989, Leuenberger sparked UNMC’s first efforts to be environmentally responsible when he called for the launch of an aggressive recycling program on campus.
That led to the founding of the UNMC Recycling Center in 1993. UNMC was one of the first members of the Omaha business community to start a recycling program and other local business and institutions began feeling pressure to be more environmentally friendly after the inception of the medical center’s program.
Today the UNMC recycling center is managed by Rick Boldt and serves nearly 9,000 employees on the UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center’s 112 acres of campuses. It handles the collection of mixed paper, cardboard, aluminum and aerosol cans. UNMC collects enough mixed paper and cardboard to fill two to three, 22-ton semi-trailers each month.
Between the center’s opening and April 2008, it collected more than 11.4 million pounds of mixed paper and more than 5 million pounds of cardboard. UNMC has collected an additional 13,000 bails of materials since April with each bail weighing between 9,000 and 17,000 pounds.
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- The creation of a “Waste Handling Information” insert for the campus directory;
- The implementation of a “Greener Sharps” program that has the medical center purchasing reusable sharps containers made from recycled plastic. The UNMC clinical lab began using the reusable sharps containers in July 2005 and in 33 months diverted 52.3 tons of plastic from the landfill and 7.6 tons of cardboard from recycling; and
- The use of individual plastic dispensers for eating utensils, reducing waste volume dramatically. The cafeteria also purchases recycled-content napkins and environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals.
Other ways UNMC works to promote environmentally friendly practices among employees include hosting Earth Day activities and bringing the Mobile Environmental Education Trailer to campus for employees to visit.
Leuenberger also recently created a sustainability committee that is co-chaired by Boldt and UNMC safety manager John Hauser. The committee will review, recommend and promote business practices that support responsible and sustainable use of resources on the UNMC campus.
“This really is a campus award because we have great employees who really care and buy into our efforts to protect our environment,” Boldt said. “In that regard, there aren’t many places like UNMC.”